1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a system and method for removing dissolved gases from the liquid and vapor phase of a halocarbon composition, and in particular, for removing nitrogen and other non-condensable gas at high process efficiencies and at high process rates from liquid and vapor phase halocarbon.
2. Related Art
During the past decade, much attention has been focused on the earth's ozone layer. The ozone layer is essential to protect the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The thinning of the earth's ozone layer results in more harmful ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth's surface.
One of the causes of ozone depletion is the release of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS's) into the atmosphere. For instance, Halon.RTM. is in the class of the ODS's since it contains some of the key halogens that cause ozone depletion. However, halocarbon compositions are essential for fire protection in existing proven fire fighting and fire suppression systems. Until suitable replacements can be found, it is necessary to continue the use of the halocarbon compositions in order to maintain protection against fire hazards.
As replacement agents are found it will be necessary to destroy the halocarbon compositions in a manner which is safe for the environment. The destruction process must result in rendering the halogen components from the halocarbon composition molecule "harmless" to the environment. In this effort of destruction, it is also necessary to remove the non-condensable gases, especially nitrogen, widely used in the fire suppression industry as a pressurizing media for fire suppression containers containing halocarbon compositions, such as Halon.RTM. and other fire suppression compounds. Removal of nitrogen rapidly and at a high volume rate for a process flow including halocarbon compositions requires high rates of heat transfer and also requires that the physical process control be performed through computer means.
Many conventional halocarbon composition recovery, recycle, and reclamation systems appearing on the market in the past decade are not designed to be computer interactive and do not perform nitrogen and other non-condensable gas separation at high rates, and in particular, at high process efficiencies at high process rates. No conventional system on the market is self optimizing through computer process modeling where the process determines the phase of the mixture to be recovered and treated based on pressure and temperature of the halocarbon and dissolved gas mixture within the source vessel.
In the invention, the unique design of the heat exchanger unit of the invention achieves heat transfer efficiency beyond that of similar conventional equipment previously developed. For example, the invention provides a high rate process efficiency of approximately 99% for Halon.RTM. 1211 and approximately 98% for Halon.RTM. 1301 and is a vast improvement on previous process systems and methods. In addition, the invention can be practiced with other halocarbon compositions. The invention can also be used with other replacement agents in the same manner as it is used with the Halon.RTM. 1211 and Halon.RTM. 1301. Since replacement agents are very expensive, the invention will be beneficial to minimizing the unnecessary release of the replacement agents due to its high rate of process and high process efficiency. As a result, the invention reduces the consumption of replacement agents, thereby reducing the end user cost and minimizes the impact to the global environment.